Monday, December 10, 2012

Links Dec 10

Australia: Panel named on multinational tax avoidance The Australian
Dec
10 - "The establishment of the 14-member specialist reference group,
which includes union, business and taxation industry representatives, is
the first step in a Treasury examination of multinational tax
minimisation strategies."The group includesTJN'sMark Zirnsak.

See also: Super tax flagged to beat havens Sydney Morning Herald
Dec 10 - "Starbucks, Google, Apple, eBay and other ''shape-shifting'' corporations
that route their business through intermediaries located in tax havens
may soon face an Australian tax from which other corporations would be
exempt."

The predatory practices of major accountancy firms Guardian
Dec
8 - Prem Sikka reports: "Despite the evidence of fraudulent schemes, no
firm has ever been disciplined by any professional accountancy body."

Google pays just 0.14% tax in seven years Independent - Ireland
Dec
9 - "Global giant paid less than €70m in tax on sales of €47bn through
its Irish operations ... Apart from paying minimal tax to the Irish
Exchequer, the accusation levelled is that countries all over the world
are down billions in tax thanks to Google's legal tax practices in
Ireland, dubbed "utterly immoral" in recent days by a British
parliamentary body."

Malta losing €577 million a year to tax evasion Malta Independent
Dec 9 - On the European Commission's package of measures to
tackle the estimated €1.3 trillion lost to tax evasion and fraud in
Europe. "In addition to concerted action at EU level, the Commission has also
underlined the need for individual member states to improve tax
compliance and their fight against tax evasion."
JPMorgan to agree £500m tax settlement Accountancy Age
Dec
10 - "US bank JPMorgan is close to agreeing a £500m settlement with the
UK government to pay back taxes avoided through an
offshore trust for employee bonus payments, theFinancial Times
reports." See also, for some fun on bonuses and tax -Alex Cartoon - Telegraph.

CEOs and Fix-the-Debt Gang Lobby for Terribletorial Corporate Tax System Citizens for Tax Justice
Dec 7 - "A move to a territorial system could give the 63 publicly-held companies
in the Fix the Debt campaign an immediate windfall of up to $134 billion
and would massively increase their incentives to move even more profits
offshore, where they would then be permanently exempted from U.S.
taxes. Terrible-torial."

End of the line for multinational tax abuse? The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Dec 9 - More on TJN's new report
on taxing transnational companies, in which Professor Sol Picciotto
makes the case for shifting to unitary taxation with profits being
apportioned to the various countries in which the TNCs have a genuine
economic presence.New York Times Asks How Obama Plan Really Affects the Top Two Percent Citizens for Tax Justice
Dec 7 - "A story
in this week’s New York Times uses CTJ numbers to demonstrate what CTJ
has said many times: President Obama’s proposal is not the confiscatory
tax plan opponents would have you believe."

Quote of the Day: London and the criminal sink Treasure Islands
Dec 10 - From Rowan’s Blog:
“The performers in this financial farrago are required to
continue to maintain a steady stream of profit, and increasingly, as
that profit becomes harder to achieve by lawful means, so the criminal means take over.”

It's the New Economy, Stupid The Nation
Nov
28 - "To secure a safe and prosperous future for subsequent
generations, efforts to reduce unemployment and curb inequality must be
considered alongside urgent threats to the environment and democracy."
Cites the FACT Coalition.

We can win the argument, says head regulator This is Jersey
Dec
3 - "Jersey has to be more assertive in getting its arguments across
that it is a not a haven for tax evasion, says the director general of
the Jersey Financial Services Commission." Yet another example of We are not a tax haven.The answer is not so much reform, as spin.

0 Comments:

Links to this post:

About Me

The Tax Justice Network (TJN) is an international, non-aligned network of researchers and activists with a shared concern about the harmful impacts of tax avoidance, tax competition and tax havens.
www.taxjustice.net